Hidden Realms

by Dean Murray

  Allison answered after the first ring. “What took you so long!” she exclaimed. “I have been waiting here for hours for you to tell me what’s going on!”

  I laughed. “Calm down Al. Everyone’s okay. We’re back at my house now.”

  “I’ll see you in ten,” she said, then hung up.

  I placed the phone back in its cradle just as Max and Jason returned to the living room. Lucy was curled up on the couch, staring at nothing.

  “I’m in desperate need of a shower,” I announced to the room. I looked toward Max and Jason, “You guys are free to use the guest bathroom if you want. There should be plenty of hot water.”

  Max shrugged, “I don’t have any extra clothes. I’ll probably just run home and shower.” He turned to Jason. “Mind if I use your car?”

  “It is all yours,” Jason answered. “I have clothes in the trunk that I need to grab, then you can take it.”

  “It’s settled then,” I concluded. I informed Jason where the guest bathroom was, then ran upstairs and hopped in the shower.

  Finally alone, I took a moment to process the events of the previous night and that morning. It was a lot to take in: werewolves, vampires, and whatever I was. That last part was by far the most troubling to me, not that the others were unimportant, far from it. My world was completely and utterly upside-down.

  I thought about Jason being a vampire. I wasn’t even really sure about what a vampire was. I mean, I had the movies and legends to go on, but how many of them were actually based on reality? All I knew for sure was that he drank blood, and despite popular belief, could go out in the sun.

  Vampires, as a general consensus, were reanimated corpses. Jason had said when he was born, but not when or if he died. Maybe you were just born a vampire, not changed into one.

  Then there was Jason’s profession. Bounty hunter? I guess that was actually my choice of words, but still. His contract against Dan seemed valiant enough, but what if his other jobs weren’t quite as innocent? I wished I had thought of all of these questions earlier.

  I finished showering and dried off. Then I went rummaging through my closet and pulled on a clean pair of jeans. I considered a turtleneck and vetoed the idea; I wasn’t sure if Jason would think it was because of him and be offended. I decided on a plain black, v-neck short-sleeved shirt then headed back to the group. As I neared the end of the stairs, Jason turned his head to watch me for the rest of my descent.

  His observant blue eyes had a hint of some emotion that I didn’t understand, except that it made my heart hurt in a funny way. It seemed an admiring gaze, but there was some sadness underneath. He was freshly showered and wearing a blue cotton t-shirt that matched his eyes on top of jeans and his usual hiking boots.

  Walking into the room I saw that Lucy was pretending to watch the soccer game with Max, who had apparently already gone home and showered, since he was now wearing a yellow button up shirt, rolled up at the sleeves, and some more khaki cargo pants. I knew I had taken a long time in the shower, but I hadn't realized just how long. Noticing my presence, Max and Lucy both turned to add their gazes to Jason’s.

  I cut the silence by asking, “Anyone hungry?”

  The atmosphere eased as everyone admitted that they were starved. We all trooped to the kitchen. I searched my usually empty pantry as everyone else went to sit in the adjoining dining room. Like I said, we’re big on take-out in my house, so I was surprised to find we had all of the ingredients for pancakes. Mom must have gone shopping. I had retrieved a big blue ceramic mixing bowl and had begun mixing the batter when the doorbell rang.

  “That’ll be Allison,” I called. “I’ll get it.” I went into the living room and opened the door. I was surprised to find not Allison, but Brian waiting outside. He was dressed in a red t-shirt and jeans, topped by his Letterman’s jacket.

  “So you are alive!” he exclaimed. I stared blankly at him and he went on, “Well what was I supposed to think? There was that scene in English yesterday with that weirdo Dan. And you, him, and the other new guy that sat behind you obviously had some tension going on, then today none of you are there, and I didn’t see Allison in gym either.”

  Jason chose that moment to walk up and stand behind me, almost touching. I could feel the line of his chest a hair’s-breadth away from my back. The look Brian gave him was not a friendly one. Ignoring Brian’s glare, Jason stepped closer. Now he actually was pressed against my back. I shivered, sensing the tension in Jason’s body.

  Brian tried to stare down Jason, but then seemed to think better of it, and gave his usual grin, if not an entirely happy one. He turned his gaze back to me. “Do I smell pancakes?” he asked mischievously. He didn’t wait for an answer. I stood there dumbly as he pushed his way through the door with a very deliberate look at Jason. As Brian walked past us, I turned to Jason for help, but was only rewarded with a sarcastic ‘nice going’ look. He'd been trying to intimidate Brian in to leaving, and I'd totally blown it.

  I crossed my arms with an angry pout, then headed back into the kitchen. Jason shut and locked the door, then followed me.

  Max had started cooking the pancakes while I was gone on my rarely used electric griddle. I made a mental note to start using it more. It really was a genius invention. No stove required and clean up consisted of wiping it down with a paper towel. Max had placed the first of the pancakes onto a platter he had to have found shoved in the back of one of our barren cupboards. Leaving Max to his work, I peeked into the dining room to see Lucy and Brian sitting at opposite ends of my pale wood table.

  Shaking my head, I started the coffee while Jason hovered over me. I ground the beans, fresh ground is the only way to go, and put them in the paper filter. Jason remained standing in the kitchen, watching me as I grabbed some paper plates, coffee mugs, and juice for the non-coffee drinkers. So it was well past lunchtime, I simply could not have pancakes without coffee.

  Jason darted occasional glances at the table where Brian was sitting, while he continued to hover over me almost possessively. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Jason was jealous. Well, considering I’d only known him a few days, I really didn’t know any better. Not knowing whether to be flattered, or annoyed, I settled on a little bit of both, and tried to ignore Jason as much as possible.

  I finished setting the table as Max set the heaping platter of pancakes in the center. I brought out the coffee pot and sat down. Jason and I were the only ones to fill our cups. Point for the vampire. I added cream, no sugar. Jason took his black.

  Another knock on the door signaled Allison’s arrival. Max got up to let her in. The rest of us sat eating our pancakes, Jason and I on one side of the table, Brian on the other, and Lucy at the head of the table. Allison waltzed in ahead of Max, wearing a lavender tunic-style tank top over skinny jeans and black ballet flats. She tossed her black and silver overnight bag on the floor in a corner of the dining room, then sat down next to Brian as Max sat on the other side of Jason.

  Jason heaped more pancakes onto his plate. I didn’t think vampires could eat people food, or drink coffee for that matter. Another myth I guess, I’d have to ask later. He drizzled maple syrup over his pile of pancakes and dug in. Allison gave me a questioning look at the sight of Brian and I mouthed, “Later.”

  “So, this is quite a gathering,” Brian observed innocently, albeit a little sarcastically. “What have you all got planned this evening?”

  We each darted nervous glances at our co-conspirators.

  “School project,” Lucy answered.

  Brian smiled. “School project? What class do you all have together?”

  In an attempt to save our ruse Allison answered, “They’re helping me with a project for the yearbook committee.”

  Brian’s look remained suspicious, but the questioning ended . . . for now.

  Allison took the opportunity to change the subject. “Who made the pancakes?”

  Max raised his hand with a grin.

  Allison laughed and r
an her hand through her loose, blonde hair. “Surprise, surprise, Xoe passes the cooking off on someone else.”

  “Hey!” I shouted playfully. “I mixed. That’s cooking.”

  Allison jested, “Oooooh, she uses a spoon.”

  I pouted, glaring at Al, as everyone laughed. I wasn’t actually upset. My cooking skills were often mocked. Plus, I kind of had it coming. I gave Al a hard time about one thing or another most every day.

  After we finished eating, I hustled Brian out of the house, saying we had to get started on our “project.” I walked him to the door, but before walking out he turned to me. “I don’t trust Jason. If you need anything, call.”

  Ah, the testosterone was suffocating. I said goodbye and shut the door to find Jason watching me from across the room.

  He walked up to me, hands in his pockets, acting perfectly at ease. “Boyfriend?” he questioned.

  “No, not that it’s any of your business,” I sniffed, then walked to the dining room where everyone else was still sitting. I sat down as Jason came into the room, a small, satisfied smile on his face.

  Jason took the chair beside me and put his arm across my chair back casually, then started detailing the battle plan for that night. I leaned forward slightly so that I wouldn't be touching Jason's arm. What was with all of the hovering? I decided to write it off as Jason just being a touchy-feely kind of person. So why did my heart speed every time such touching occurred?

  Jason caught my gaze with his midnight blue eyes. “If Dan shows up, Xoe, you, Lucy, and Allison need to get to Allison’s car, lock yourselves inside and start driving. Don’t stop until I call you on Allison’s cell to let you know it’s safe to come back.”

  I felt an instant flush of anger at the fact that he wanted us to run. I managed to keep my cool, and leaned my back against his arm. Rather than voicing that I refused to run, I pointed out the other flaw in the plan. “What about my mom?”

  Jason grimaced. “Sorry Xoe, forgot about that.” He paused to think for a moment. “Okay, you can tell your mom that Dan is a burglar, then you can all get out of the house together. We just can’t let your mom call the cops.”

  I nodded. “That will probably work. My mom is so not good in emergency situations, so she’ll likely do whatever we tell her.” I blew out a sigh. We’d have to worry about her inevitable questions later. Okay, so it was a flawed plan . . . better than nothing.

  Jason smiled and removed his arm from my chair. “It’s settled then.”

  I’m sure that Jason meant that we should still run, but all he had said was to “get out of the house.” Now that, I could do. I nodded my final assent to the plan.

  Shortly after we had settled what we would do, my mom came home, dressed in a navy business suit and heels; must have been an office day. Taking in the group of us, she looked at me with a smile and hands on her hips, waiting for an explanation.

  “School project,” I told her.

  “Pizza!” she exclaimed, disappearing into the living room to order.

  Max looked at me, bewildered. “Your mom is so cool.”

  I smiled. “Yeah, I’d say she’s a keeper.”

  We all headed up to my room, telling my mom we were going to work on our project. Al and Max sat side by side on my bed, while the rest of us settled into a semi-circle on my plush beige carpeting.

  Now that we had nothing to do but wait, we got a conversation going about school, of all things. While we talked, Jason got up and walked around my room, looking at pictures and any trinkets I had on my dresser.

  I watched him as he picked up a picture my mom had taken of me on a camping trip. I was nine, and even more gangly looking than I am now. I was posing with a marshmallow on a stick, my mouth way more open than it needed to be. He smiled, not noticing my gaze. I quickly turned my attention back to the conversation, but of course, my mind wandered. I couldn’t imagine Jason as a savage killer, but he was, at least at one time. I wasn’t sure how much that bothered me.

  After a while my mom knocked on the door. Not waiting for an answer, she came in carrying several pizza boxes. She handed me a stack of paper plates to pass out as Max and Al came to join us on the floor. My mom set the boxes on the carpet in between us all.

  Being a mom, and having an obligation to embarrass me, she sat down next to Jason and folded her short, now jean-clad legs underneath her, then she began quizzing Max and Jason. I sat back down on Jason’s other side with a sigh. Jason watched the embarrassment grow on my face, smiling, and answered all of my mom’s inane questions politely. I kept my eyes on my pizza, trying not to frown.

  At one point my mom pulled her pale blue tank top straight, going into business mode, and asked to see our school project. We told her we were still in the “brainstorming stage” and she let it go. Forty-five excruciating minutes later, she decided that her embarrassing mom requirement for the week had been achieved. She grabbed the empty pizza boxes and left us to “get back to work.”

  When conversation began to run out, the topic came to me and the whole “non-human” thing.

  “So what are the possibilities?” Allison asked Jason.

  Jason glanced at me, then answered, “There are many supernatural creatures that can produce offspring with humans, some more rare than others. Many people have elven blood without even knowing it. Full blooded elves are extremely rare these days, mainly because their bloodlines have become almost completely entwined with humans.”

  “Could that be what I am?” I interrupted hopefully. Elves didn’t sound too bad.

  Jason shook his head, dashing my hopes. “You may have some elven blood, but Max and I would not be able to smell the difference. Your non-human blood is something much more rare.”

  I sighed, getting crabby. “Spit it out already.”

  Jason went on, “One option is Ogres, but I doubt that’s what you are, you would likely be much larger. Another one is Merpeople.”

  “Merpeople?” Allison asked incredulously.

  Jason regarded her. “Merpeople have two forms. When under water, they are in their natural form, very similar to the common depiction of mermaids. On land, they look much like humans, except for the second eyelids. For some reason, those remain even in human form.”

  Okay, Merpeople were slightly more unsettling than elves, but again, not horrible. “What are my chances of that?”

  “Pretty good,” Jason replied. “Merpeople are a great deal more common than one would think.”

  I nodded, taking it all in. “Any other options?”

  Jason hesitated. He ran his hand through his hair. Not a good sign. Finally, he spoke. “The last option that I came up with was . . . demons.”

  My heart skipped a beat. I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “Seriously?”

  He nodded and answered, “It’s not as uncommon as you would think. Demons often mate with humans, producing half-demons. Demons can look like humans, as can merpeople and ogres. Your mom probably thought your dad was just a normal guy.”

  “What about werewolves?” Lucy chimed in.

  Jason shook his head, “We can rule out werewolves, vampires, or any conditions resulting from being cursed. All can produce offspring with humans, but none can pass on their afflictions.”

  I held my breath at Jason’s mention of vampires, waiting for Lucy or Allison to question him further on the subject. Surprisingly, they both seemed to take the mention of vampires in stride.

  Lucy nodded in response to Jason’s answer. “Well that’s something at least.”

  So, I could be an ogre (unlikely), a mermaid (not so bad), or . . . a demon (gulp). That seemingly ever-present feeling of dread had returned to the pit of my stomach ten-fold. Like Lucy said, at least we could rule out werewolf and vampire, which also meant that I had my answer about how Jason became a vampire. Small consolation, that.

  As we were finishing that lovely subject, I glanced at the clock. 9:00 pm, time for the boys to “leave.” They were going to leave out the front do
or and drive Jason’s car to hide it. Then they would walk back to my house, do a perimeter check, and sneak back in through my window. When I asked how they were going to climb in through my second-story window, they both smiled mischievously and walked out of my room. I guess we’d find out.

  The boy’s departure was Allison’s queue for girl talk. “So Xoe,” she started, “pray tell, what is going on between you and Jason?” She smiled wickedly at me.

  I gave her my best dumbfounded look. “What? Nothing, why do you ask?”

  Allison sighed, “Oh, come on. Don’t play dumb, you two are so obvious.”

  With a sigh of my own, I answered, “Nothing Allison, just friends.”

  “And why is that?” she went on. “Is it the whole vampire thing?”

  My jaw dropped. How did Allison know?

  She smiled. “Max told us.”

  That little rat . . . I mean wolf. Well, at least I wasn’t the last to know. “So what if it is the vampire thing?” I replied.

  Allison crossed her arms and looked at me as if I were being childish. “Who cares? It’s not like he kills people anymore. He’s one of the good guys now.”

  I sighed loudly. “Emphasis on the now. The fact still remains that he killed people at one time, and who even said I was interested in him to begin with?”

  “Pah-lease, I see the way you watch him,” Allison countered. “And there is definitely no mistaking the way he watches you.”

  At that we all turned to a knock at the window. Apparently the boys had finished their perimeter check. Thankfully, the girl talk could end. I stood and opened the window for them to climb in.

  “The way who watches who?” Max asked as he pulled himself in. They really had climbed all the way up to my two-story window, though I wasn't sure how. The storm drain maybe?

  Really, I was more concerned with how much of our conversation they'd heard. The three of us girls crossed our arms and stared Max down with our best stern faces. He shrugged off our glares and plopped down on my bed as Jason climbed in through the window after him.